Bon Chon, Patzeria, Yakitori Taisho, Joe Shanghai @ NYC

Sorry, I have been neglecting this blog. Life has been really busy, but it will get better, I promise.
Overall the weekend, I have made my 4th trip to NYC this summer, once again trying to stuff more yummy food to feed my food baby.

Bon Chon

I know there is a Bon Chon 45 min away from my house, and yet I have never been there given that everyone around me have been raving about it. Coincidentally, our hotel in NY is two blocks away from K-town, so we figure, why not try out Bon Chon while we are here.
 

Mix Bon Chon Wings

After having my first Bon Chon, my impression was, why do people rave about it so much? Is it because people haven't had many Asian flavored wings before? I agree, Bon Chon wings are really crispy, but I thought Pollo Campero has pretty crispy fried chicken as well.  I do love chicken wings, probably one of my favorite food, I will eat it in any flavor, even just plain with salt, so I am not hating on Bon Chon, I just don't understand what's the hype?  I would eat Bon Chon again if I happen to be in the proximity, but definitely not going to wait in line, or call ahead to order and drive all the way to the store for pick-up. Like really? No.

Bul-go-gi Taco

While the wings were not up to our expectations, the Bul-go-gi taco, we thought were fantastic.  Love the spicy mayo with Korean BBQ flavored beef. Really glad we ordered it on top of the wings, and special thanks to the waiter for reassuring us on ordering the tacos, because we told him it's our first time at Bon Chon, and we weren't sure if ordering Tacos is a good idea, but he told us, he actually love the tacos more than the wings. I cannot agree more.

Sausage Pizza

Before catching Phantom, we wanted to grab something quick to eat.  After doing a quick search on yelp, we found this little hole in the wall Pizza Joint - Patzeria Perfect Pizza near the theater district.  90% of the shop is the kitchen, oven and register, there are only 4 stools in the shop and a short bar table.  When we first got there, the premade pizza on the display cabinet didn't look too appetizing at all.  But trust me, after they heat it up in the oven, you will find yourself with some toasty, crispy, Italian thin crust pizza with delicious toppings and melted cheese which you are going to have a hard time not to devour it in a short time.
   

Tomatoes and Basil Pizza

Haven't had really good pizza in a while, probably not since my trip to Italy. Highly recommend, will come back next time when I am in the theater district.

Chasyu Tonkotsu Ramen

I do admit, Yakitori Taisho is like my to-go place in Japanese Town. Even though the food is not extraordinary, but in terms of the variety of dishes and yakitori, affordable pricing, and the cheap draft Sapporo, I really can't complain. For the sake of blogging, I promise, next time I will try some place new.

Quick review on their Ramen, broth is good, the pork is good, my two complains, both equally important, I don't like their noodles and where's my egg? Yes, I know I can get the best ramen from Ippudo, but I don't want to wait 3 hours.

Combo A

I love getting this combo, because of the chicken gizzards and chicken skins.  One of the reasons why I like coming here is because of their yakitori, it's not as good as the old Sushi Taro's yakitori (omg, I don't want to get started on that), but I really don't know any other place in MD/DC that has affordable yakitori (Kushi is not affordable).  If only Sushi Taro still serves yakitori...(reminiscing the good old days)

Yaki Onigiri with eel

 Grilled rice ball with eel, pretty good, especially when it was hot.

Hokke Tei

Grilled Hokke, this was ... not good at all. I recommend grilled fish from Tempari. It's way better, so don't waste your money on this dish.

Sapporo

Joe's Shanghai @ Chinatown

Whenever I go to NYC, there are two places I always try to eat at (1) Otafuku in Japanese Town (best Takoyaki and yakisoba) and (2) Joe's Shanghai.  I have only been to the one in Chinatown, since it is one of the few good restaurants left in Chinatown. When I am in Flushing, I usually like to try somewhere new.
 

Chicken with noodle and peanut sauce

This is one of my favorite Shanghai dish, it's really good if prepared right. I was very disappointed that Joe's Shanghai did a poor job with this dish.  The noodles were too soft, and the sauce is lacking flavor, I will not order this dish again at Joe's Shanghai.

 

Soup Dumplings

This is a must at Joe's Shanghai, basically you don't have to order anything else, this is reason why they are famous, and why people come here. Definitely best soup dumplings I have ever had.  Of course, I have never  been to Dang Tai Fung or Shanghai.  One day, I will!

Coming Up: Probably Cafe Asia

Big Cheese Truck

I didn't even know a grilled cheese food truck existed, until my coworker told me.  He is a lover of grilled cheese, and he saw on their website they are coming near our work, so I followed them on twitter.

Big Cheese Truck

Menu

 The menu was simple, Watermelon and feta salad, 5 types of grilled cheese, gazpacho, and some dessert options.

Gazpacho and pesto with mozzarella grilled cheese

My coworker got the traditional cheddar cheese on sourdough, and I got the pesto and mozzarella grilled cheese, and we both got the gazpacho.  Let's talk about the gazpacho first, it's really refreshing, probably one of the cheapest and better gazpacho I have had. It has just the right amount of crunch (from the chopped vegetable), and wonderful flavor.  I think it's a perfect combination with the grilled cheese sandwich.  The grilled cheese is a lot bigger than I thought.  It was made to order, hot and toasty when I got it.  It was my first time having pesto and mozzarella grilled cheese, not bad. However, I do think that the traditional cheddar and sourdough is slightly better.

Big Cheese Truck

Mussel Bar @ Bethesda

Finally had the chance to visit Mussel Bar 2 weeks ago. 

Allagash White

 Thank god for the HH special price! Allagash White is a very delicious beer.

Pork Belly and Mussel Pizza

I have never had this combination before, but I have to say, it was very good! The pork belly is really tender, the mussels are kind of hard to notice, they are there, but I don't think it contribute anything to the overall taste of the pizza.  I would still order this even if pork belly is the only topping.  Definitely a must order item, especially if it's half price during HH.

Classic

For the main dish, we decided to go for the Classic Mussels - steamed in roasted garlic, shallots, cream and Sauvignon Blanc.  There are many other very interesting combo on the menu, but the white wine and cream sauce is my favorite.  I also have this mindset that a if you are call a Mussel Bar, having a good Classic Mussels should be a pretty fundamental thing to ask for. Just like if I go to a breakfast place, good scrabble eggs is minimum requirement, if they can't even make good scrabble eggs, how can I trust the other dishes on the menu, it's the simplest thing ever. So, I thought if the Classic type is good, the others can only be better.  So here comes the verdict, Mussels Bar's mussels.....are good, not fantastic, I have definitely had better at more affordable price. I would say Bistro Bis at Union Station, Bistro du Coin at Dupoint Circle and Chef Tony's at Bethesda have better mussels.  If you are a mussels fan like me, go check them out. 

French fries

You can add $2 and substitute the French fries for sweet potatoes fries, we meant to do that, but forgot to tell our server.  Even so, their French fries are really good; fresh, crispy, and seasoned well.

I won't go to Mussel Bar because of their Mussels, but I would go for the half price beer and pizza for HH.

Mussel Bar

Coming Up: The Cheese Truck

Medium Rare @ Cleveland Park

Saturday brunch at Medium Rare.  They only serve prefix menu at Medium Rare, for brunch you have a choice of green salad, fruit salad and yogurt parfait for appetizers, and Egg Benedict, steak frites, and eggs frites for entrees.

yogurt parfait

I had the yogurt parfait, which was excellent.  It was topped with dry cranberries, raisins, dry peach, granola, and strawberry syrup.   The texture and sweetness of the yogurt is perfect, I don't think I have ever had a parfait without fresh fruits, but it was surprisingly really good.  I didn't try the green salad, but my friend had it, and she said it was very good. None of us had the fruit salad, so we can't comment on that.

Egg Benedict

There are certain types of food that always gets me when I see them on the menu. Egg Benedict is one of them. So I went with that even though steak frites is what they are known for.  I regret it immediately, the egg Benedict was a little too salty, one of my friends thought the same thing.  And when we both tasted the steak frites, we both agreed that it was a lot better compared to our Egg Benedict. Lesson of the day, go with what the restaurant is famous for!

Steak frites

Cooked medium rare perfectly, the meat was tender, and the sauce was good.

Even though it is a little more expensive than your typical brunch, but you do get a lot of food for the price you paid, and it's definitely worth a try if you are into steak.  You can also try their dinner menu, which is also prefix, with only one choice, steak and frites. A restaurant that runs on one dish and surviving, you know they must be doing something right.

Medium Rare

Flushing, NY

Occasionally, someone I know would want to go to NY for just one reason...to eat.  I know it sounds a little crazy....who would drive all the way to NY just to eat? Well, the food buddies would.

Food court at New World Mall

The first spot we hit up was the New World Mall at Flushing, NY.   It is a Chinese shopping mall with a huge food court at the bottom level.  This shopping mall grand opened a few months ago, there are a lot of different varieties of Asian cuisine to choose from - Malaysian, Taiwanese, Sichuan, Lan Zhou, Shanghai, Japanese...you name it.

Dumplings in spicy oil

 I can't say this was bad, but this was bad for what it was supposed to be.  On the menu when we ordered, it stated "紅油抄手", a famous Sichuan dish, which is spicy WONTON in hot oil, NOT dumplings.  We were very disappointed.

Spicy seafood noodles

We got this from the Malaysian shop, this noodle was good, but it has no Malaysian influences to it, not very authentic.  They did serve you a huge portion for the price you pay, and the taste was decent.

Ox tail noodle

This was purchased from the Lan Zhou shop (the first picture).  What attracted me to their shop was their advertised  hand cut and home made noodles.  Standing in front the shop is the noodle master who is constantly rolling the doughs and pulling them into noodles. He looked really good at it, so I decided to get my noodle from that shop.  In the end, it was not disappointing at all, the noodles were fantastic, it has the right amount of tenderness to it.  Also, very affordable.

Moon Kee Dessert

Probably my favorite spot in the food court, Moon Kee Desert.  This is a young dessert chain established in HK, best known for their mango and durian desserts.  I was surprise to see that they have imported the same chain to NY.  At first, I was skeptical whether it is the same chain or just a copy cat, but after looking at the menu and actually trying a few things, I am delighted to see that they have expanded their business to NY.

Mango with white coconut slush and tapioca

Mango Pancake

My favorite dessert from Moon Kee, also what got them famous in the first place.  Also available with durian. 

Barbeque Stand

A random barbeque stand you can find on the street.  But make sure it says "Traditional Xinjiang Barbeque", it's so good, and only $1/skewer.

Chicken Kidneys

Lamb heart

Carlo's Bake Shop

Carlo's Bake Shop from the TLC show - Cake Boss.  We waited in line for 20 min to get into the shop, and fought through the crowd to place an order.  But it was worth it.

Tiramisu

Tiramisu is probably my favorite dessert, and there is no way I am going to go to a famous Italian bakery and not walk out with one.  The cake boss' tiramisu is not the traditional kind, it is modernized.  I have nothing against modernized tiramius, in fact I think a good pastry chef should add their own flavors and characteristic to their work.  This is not the best tiramisu I have had, but it's definitely up there.  The hardest part of making a good tiramisu is getting the right texture.  I like making my own tiramisu, if you ever tried to make one, you would know if you beat the mascarpone cheese and egg white too long, it will get watery, but if you don't beat it enough, it won't be soft, getting the right balance is the hardest part.  The tiramisu from Carol's Bake Shop has the perfect fluffiness to it.    

Chocolate creme tart

I think I like Italian dessert because they always have the right level of sweetness to it.  Sometimes when I eat American dessert, I feel like I am eating straight up sugar.  Even Italian ice cream, gelato, are never over sweet. 

Creme puffs

Mitsuwa food court

Whenever I go to NY, if time permits, I always try to drop by Mitsuwa, a Japanese supermarket in Edgewater, NJ.  They have a huge inventory of Japanese snacks, groceries, household items, and even beer and sake.  On top of that, they also have a food court in the supermarket, which have very affordable Japanese food. 

Herring with Capelin Roe Sushi

Capelin roe is super fishy, I wouldn't recommend it unless you think you can handle it.  I love fish, and the more fishy it is, the more I like it, so I love Capelin roe, they are also hard to come by in MD. 

Miso ramen

I usually don't like Miso ramen, but the one from Mitsuwa is pretty good.  Their meat is one of the best I have had, has the right porportion of fat and lean meat to it. We need a Mitsuwa in MD.

Roe on rice

Spicy miso ramen

Carlo's Bake Shop

Mitsuwa 

Coming Up: Medium Rare

Toki Underground

People who follow the restaurant scene in DC have most likely heard about the new ramen joint on H St - Toki Underground.  Toki has only been in business for a little over 2 months, has over 100 reviews on yelp and earned at 4/5 stars rating.  Therefore, a few of my friends who are ramen enthusiasts have decided to pay a visit to Toki Underground and see what the hype is all about.

Japanese toy figures

The interior of Toki Underground is decorated with a skateboard theme, very colorful and urban.  There are no tables in the entire restaurant, only an extended bar wrapping around wall, like a noodle bar.

The Menu

The menu is relatively simple, 5 choices of ramen, 5 types of dumplings, steamed or pan fried, ramen toppings, and some sides.

Oolong cocktail

Oolong cocktail, tastes like oolong tea, very refreshing, can  barely taste the alcohol.

Steamed seafood dumplings

The steamed dumplings and pan fried dumplings kind of taste the same to me, they have the same sauce on it
 maybe that's the reason why.

Pan fried seafood dumplings

We had both the pork and seafood dumpling, I seriously can't taste the pork in the pork dumpling, I almost thought they gave us the vegetable dumplings by mistake. Definitely go for the seafood one, it's much better.  The sauce tastes good though.

Grilled corn

Their grilled corn is really good, kind of pricey, but worth a try.

Toki Hakata Classic

There all five types of ramen on the menu, but all five of us got the classic.  I wanted to try the classic type because every ramen house serves the classic soup base, and I wanted to compared it to one of my favorite ramen house  - Ren's Ramen (which recently reopened in Wheaton, but I haven't gotten a chance to visit it yet)  Also, making a decent classic ramen is the minimum requirement of a good ramen house.  To me, the soup base is the most important component of a good ramen.  I like my soup base really flavorful so I can taste pork in every sip.  I like Toki's classic ramen, but I don't love it.  I think the soup is not flavorful enough, they need to throw more pork bones to make the soup base.  I also thought their noodle is a little too thin, but one of my friends said she actually prefers the thinner noodle, it's a personally preference I guess.  The good thing is, they give you a lot of sliced pork, even though my pork was a little dry.  During the whole time I was eating, I keep trying to compare it to Ren and I want to say I like Ren slightly more, but base on the fact that Ren has been closed for almost a year, I am basing it on memory, which can't be too accurate.  So, after our meal, a few of us actually drove to the new Ren's Ramen at Wheaton and was ready to do an immediate comparison.  Unfortunately, Ren closes on every second and third Tuesday, so we couldn't.       

Half boiled egg

I don't think Toki Underground is worth the 4 stars on yelp, it's good, but not on that level, I would give 3 stars personally.   I can see why people will hype about it though, ramen houses are so hard to come by, especially in DC.  I was excited just to see they have ramen house in DC.  I will go to Toki again, whenever I am in the area, and feel like eating ramen.  There's no way I will wait 3 hours for it though, like other people have.  Even Ippudo is not worth the 3 hours wait. But I am very happy to see the ramen culture spreading, and Toki Underground had done a decent job.

Coming Up: NY Food Adventure